Phil stared at Princess Rose.
Princess Rose stared at Phil.
If the weird and unusual hadn’t already become the norm since he had woken up in this world, Phil might have burst out laughing the second he came face to face with the Obelisk Blue girl in the large lawn/courtyard situated between all of the major school buildings on the island. The lawn, or ‘the quad’, as it was more well known by the student population, was a pretty nice place to hang out at. Solid, ten out of ten would recommend. Lots of grass, lots of shady trees, a bunch of ‘sweet benches’ (as Jaden would put it), and plenty of places to stick a hammock up or start a pickup game involving the throwing or kicking of balls.
As it turns out, it was also not uncommon for duels to happen there, both for fun or for some sort of goal. So, there Phil was, standing out in the quad after class because he got a note from a girl who dressed like a literal princess in Obelisk Blue colors.
“Well met, Phillip. I pray this morning finds you well?” Princess Rose was the first to break the silence with a few polite words, sounding not unlike an actual princess with how sophisticated her tone was.
Phil glanced down at his watch. It was a piece of shit, something that was already strapped to his wrist when he first arrived in this world, but the key part was that it worked. It worked rather well, in fact. Who cared that the strap had pictures of Flaming-Hot Cheetos on it? All that mattered was he could tell the time.
“Pretty well. Um, it’s not morning anymore, though.” Phil couldn’t help himself from poking fun at the uptight girl. “A minute ago? Sure. That would still be morning. It’s noon now.”
Princess Rose fell silent, as if considering the new information with an alarming amount of seriousness. Then, she bowed slightly at the waist in apology.
“My apologies. Good afternoon, Phillip. I pray this day finds you well?”
In the corner of his eye, he could see both Alexis and Lumina angrily mouthing the words ‘stop being an ass and get to the point’ at him. That was another thing that struck him as funny. Neither woman could see each other, yet they had the exact same train of thought. Well, there was nothing he could do, not if he didn’t want to get smacked upside the head with a flip flop later.
“Great. How about you? And what did you want to talk to me about, Rose? Can I call you Rose? If I can call you Rose, you can call me Phil, ‘cause I like to keep it chill.”
“I am fairing fine on this wonderful day, and while ignoring my title may be somewhat uncouth, I shall allow it. As for the reason behind my abrupt message… I do apologize if it seemed impolite.”
One of the most difficult things in Phil's life at the present moment was preventing himself from motioning with his hand very impatiently for Rose to get to the fucking point. She seemed like a decent lady, albeit a bit stuffy, but she was using way too many words when a lot fewer words would probably work just as well.
“I was fortunate enough to spectate your brilliant duel with the professors earlier.” Rose finally revealed. “The other gentlemen on your team performed admirably, but this lady was most stricken by the strength, speed, and ability possessed by those gallant princes in your deck.”
“What?” Phil said with complete and utter confusion. Never in his life had he felt such a firm, unyielding feeling of bewilderment. He risked a glance over to Alexis, noting that she looked completely unphased by what Rose was saying. He also noted that Syrus had his hands clasped in a gesture of prayer, and Jaden was half-jokingly, half-seriously, holding out a picture of Slifer the Sky Dragon for his friend to prostrate himself before.
“Yes, your mighty D.3.S. Frog, those strong Des Frogs, and every other brave prince that lay in wait in your deck. Would you allow this lady, as the only other duelist on the island who recognizes the beauty of frogs, to face a gentleman such as yourself in a duel?”
Phil’s brain stalled for a few seconds as his mind filtered out ninety percent of her words to piece together that Princess Rose wanted a mirror match. He glanced at his watch again, noting that there was still a good half an hour until the next class and shrugged.
“Sure, might as well. A mirror match for funsies.”
“Yes…” Rose looked back at him strangely, as though Phil was just as odd of a person to her as she was to him. “For ‘fun’.”
There was something about how she said the word ‘fun’ that made Phil glance back up from sorting out his duel disk to look Rose in the eyes.
“Yeah. For fun, right? No stupid bullshit on the line?”
Rose winced at Phil’s language, but soon recovered and dipped her head. “Perhaps if I find your ability lacking, I may be forced to protest your continued usage of your frogs. It would not do for such wonderful princes as those to be repeatedly embarrassed by any sort of inability. This lady would be also forced to show you the light if that happened, as to provide proper education.”
“Alright….” Phil dragged out the word and glanced back to Syrus, who hardly seemed perturbed that Rose was thoroughly bonkers.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The upside of already being on the quad was that there was plenty of space for a duel, even with most classes being finished for the lunch hour.
The downside of dueling on the quad at the time they did was that as soon as Phil and Rose readied their duel disks, a crowd formed. A sizable one, given that most classes were finished for the lunch hour. Rocks, benches, patches of grass that weren’t too wet, all were taken up as spectators wandered over to get some free entertainment with their meal. Bastion and Chazz casually walked over to the best spot, a bench to the side middle of the impromptu dueling arena, and sat down with the clear intention of commentating after Chazz physically picked up and threw several first-years off the bench.
Meanwhile, Jaden and Syrus clambered up a nearby tree to lounge in the branches to get the best view possible, while Alexis sat back and looked through her notes for the class period that was supposed to start after lunch ended. Chumley, as usual, pulled out his portable grill, and very quickly started handing out grilled cheese sandwiches in exchange for cold hard cash, making him the true winner of the day.
Phil: 4000 Rose: 4000
“This lady shall go first.” Rose declared confidently. Phil hardly felt like arguing with her, so he simply nodded his head.
Rose drew a card and immediately placed it on her duel disk with a refined and elegant flick of her hand.
“I summon my first prince, Poison Draw Frog (100/100) in defense position! Once that is done, I place one card face down and end my turn.”
It was kind of weird, now that Phil thought about it, to see his frogs on the opposite side of the field. Poison Draw Frog, a little brown amphibian with an extraordinarily long tongue, was a fun little card to use. It wasn’t amazing, but it was fun. Cool art, a drawing effect that wasn’t pure garbage, and it was level two. Not like that last bit mattered much in this particular duel since he was pretty darn sure Rose didn’t run any XYZ monsters. If she did, Phil was gonna have to have some strong words with whoever was in charge because that would be grade-A bullshit. Only he was allowed to have the funny overpowered space cards.
“Alright. Starting out slow. I can respect that.” Phil casually said as he drew a card, sparing a single glance at it before launching into a play of his own. “I discard the water-attribute Treeborn Frog to special summon Swap Frog (1000/500) in attack position. Swap’s effect activates, sending another Treeborn Frog from my deck to my graveyard. That’s about all for my main phase, so I will chug along into my battle phase. Swap Frog, destroy that Poison Draw Frog!”
Rose closed her eyes momentarily with regret as the yellow-horned frog with red markings gleefully tore her own frog into tiny pieces, slurping down its flesh like a premium dish of fried frog legs. The slurping noises of flesh being gulped down Swap Frog's throat reverberated around the quad, enough to make Phil’s opponent shudder with disgust. The spectating students, most being a little bit used to the strange, violent habits of Phil's holographic frog monsters by now, barely managed to avoid losing their lunches.
“Such uncouth violence…” Rose muttered, opening her eyes once Phil’s turn ended with no further actions after she drew a card from Poison Draw Frog’s effect. “A gentleman should be refined and elegant with his movements! I banish the water attribute Poison Draw Frog from my graveyard to special summon Aqua Spirit (1600/1200) in attack position. Yet that does not conclude this lady’s turn yet. I sacrifice Aqua Spirit to tribute summon the prince known as Des Frog (1900/0) in attack position!”
Croaking dully, a green frog with whisps of barely visible blue steam floating off its skin hopped onto the field. While 1900 was not entirely impressive, it was still a good chunk more than anything Phil had summoned by this point, which was something Rose exploited immediately by ordering it to attack Phil’s Swap Frog.
Phil: 3100 Rose: 4000
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“And there’s first blood.” Bastion commented to Chazz, who was leaning back with his arms thrown up casually on the bench, hardly appearing to pay attention to the duel in front of them. Though, Chazz’s casual façade hardly convinced Bastion, who easily noted yet said nothing about how Chazz made sure to scare away every first year that came close to try and sit on the bench with them through his patented ‘Chazz upperclassmen glare’.
“Obviously I don’t need to ask if Phil has an out to Des Frog in his deck. You and I, we’ve seen his frogs a few times before by now in our weekend dueling study sessions. I think a better question is when he’ll see that out.”
“He didn’t set anything face down last turn.” Chazz brought up, gesturing lazily with one hand toward Phil’s empty field. “Recklessness, or does he have a plan?”
Bastion rubbed his chin in thought, not even bothering to mention that for all his air of disinterest, Chazz was still obviously paying attention to the duel.
“Either his starting hand was terrible, or he has a plan. I think he has a plan. Phil always does.”
“Except when he doesn’t” Chazz shot back. “Seriously. He thinks ‘winging it’ is a plan.”
“Do you really think that’s what he is doing?” Bastion questioned.
“Yes.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Meanwhile, Phil drew a card, continued to fucking wing it, and loved every second of doing just that. It wasn’t like 1900 attack points was impossible to deal with anyway.
“Standby phase!” Phil gleefully shouted. “Treeborn Frog (100/100) activates, special summoning himself in defense position since I don’t have any backrow on the field. Then, since I special summoned a weak monster while you have a face up monster on the field, Rose, I can activate the quick-play spell Inferno Reckless Summon from my hand! It lets me special summon that second Treeborn Frog from my graveyard, and my third Treeborn Frog from my deck, all in attack position! Then, you can choose one monster you control, and special summon as many monsters as possible with the same name as it from anywhere."
Rose’s face blanched in surprise as three angelic frogs with pure white wings floated onto Phil’s field while he explained. She looked at her Des Frog and then looked at Phil again.
“What a gentleman.” Rose finally acknowledged, taking two more copies of Des Frog from her deck and placing them on her field in attack position.
“Oh, but that’s not all!” Phil shouted with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You watched me and the boys duel with the professors, so say hello to my little familiar friend! I activate Dark Hole! Blow up that field baybeeee!”
No sooner than the field had been filled with a chorus of croaking frogs, than a massive black hole sucked them all up, crushed them into a pulpy ball of blood and broken bones, and then obliterated the evidence, leaving the field completely empty.
“Heh heh, yeeaahhh boi. The rock’s cooking tonight.” Phil chuckled upon seeing the look of pure surprise on Princess Rose’s face. “But wait there’s more! I haven’t used my normal summon yet, so come on out, Swap Frog numero dos! Rose, you got me good last turn, so let me return the favor. Attack, my loyal Froggie minion!”
Phil: 3100 Rose: 3000
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“Is he screwing around, or has Phil finally snapped?”
Bastion glanced over to Chazz, who was watching Phil’s chain of strange plays with raised eyebrows, and an emotion of what almost seemed like a slight bit of concern in his eyes.
“I think…” Bastion watched Phil’s Swap Frog gleefully crash into his opponent, forcing her back half a step from the winds kicked up by the holographic strike. “I think he’s purely focused on having a fun time, without any sort of care if he wins or loses. He does that sometimes when we test strategies against each other. Quite frankly, situations like these are when Phil is the most unpredictable. Even my carefully calculated duel formulas cannot predict his plans, as he has none, other than what sounds the most fun to him at the moment.”
Bastion gestured toward the field, nearly empty aside from Phil’s frog monster and Rose’s face down. “Look at it. He torpedoed his own board just to see what would happen next. Assuming Princess Rose fails to draw anything particularly amazing, it also prevents her from going into her own copy of D.3.S. Frog without expending a considerable amount of resources to get her fallen Des Frogs back.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Phil once more passed his turn without setting any cards. Meanwhile, Rose’s face flickered with a split second of disappointment upon looking at the card she drew before she mastered her expression once more.
“I summon Skreech (1500/400) in attack position. Foul monster of mine, destroy that handsome frog on my opponent’s field.”
It was indeed a foul monster. Skreech, a two-legged green creature with bulging veins running all over its skin opened its fanged mouth, which was located near where its stomach appeared to be, and lived up to its name by screeching loud enough to shatter Swap Frog into a million holographic pieces.
Phil: 2600 Rose: 3000
Phil lowered his hands from where they had shot up to cover his ears as soon as the high-pitched screeching stopped, and Rose ended her turn. So far, for a casual, after-class duel, it sure was staying casual. That was nice, in a way, after a summer of duels that always seemed to end with someone torn to pieces or eaten by a monster.
“Skreech, huh?” Phil drew a card and looked at the monster with considering eyes. “I think I recognize it, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it does. Let’s… hm, let’s find out! In my standby phase, since I still don’t have any spells or traps on the field, one of my Treeborn Frogs is going to special summon itself in defense position. Once that is done, I’ll activate Foolish Burial to send one T.A.D.P.O.L.E. from my deck to my grave. Then, now that I have some nice recurring tribute fodder on the field, I sacrifice Treeborn Frog to tribute summon a Des Frog (1900/0) of my own. Since I have one T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my grave, Des Frog’s effect will trigger, special summoning an additional Des Frog from my deck in attack position.”
As it turned out, it only took one strike for Phil to find out what Rose’s monster did. Once he entered the battle phase and ordered his first frog to attack, Skreech was torn to bits between Des Frog’s iron jaws, and its effect activated to send two water monsters from Rose’s deck to her graveyard.
“Those two monsters will of course be two T.A.D.P.O.L.E.’s of my own.” Princess Rose firmly declared, digging the heels of her shoes slightly into the ground to withstand the pressure of the direct attack from Phil’s second Des Frog.
Phil: 2600 Rose: 700
“Yeah, yeah.” Phil waved his hand dismissively, placing one card face down and ending his turn.
Rose huffed and stomped her foot into the ground with a pout. “Dismissing this lady already? Hardly a gentlemanly action! I activate the spell card Frog Resurrection, discarding one T.A.D.P.O.L.E. from my hand to special summon Des Frog from my graveyard. Though my wonderful prince’s effect cannot activate in this circumstance, as he was not tribute summoned, his presence is enough for me! Furthermore, I summon Dupe Frog (100/2000) in defense position.”
Phil’s eyes widened. His surprise wasn’t because of the Dupe Frog. No, it was because of the spell card he’d never seen before in his life, and he knew of every frog card printed in the game. That deck was his jam. That meant only one thing – it was an anime-only card. The card was hardly an issue here, but there were some pretty broken anime-only cards out there, and things could potentially get tricky if those showed up at the wrong time. However, there would be time to think about that later, Phil realized, his thoughts snapping back to attention as Rose ended her turn.
“Alright, let’s hop to it!” Phil said, yanking a card out of his duel disk. “I love doing this! I activate Polymerization, fusing the two Des Frogs on my field with one in my hand to fusion summon the hefty chonker, the maestro of mayhem, D! 3! S! Frog!”
Even though it was just a hologram, every student surrounding the makeshift duel arena unconsciously stepped back as Phil’s colossal ace fusion monster launched itself onto the field with one mighty hop, letting out a croaking bellow of rage strong enough that the aftershocks alone were enough to shake the trees and nearly toss Jaden and Syrus from their perch.
“Even better, since I have three Treeborn Frogs in my graveyard, my homeboy gets a little boost! 500 smackeroos for each one, please and thank you!”
D.3.S. Frog (2500/2000 -> 4000/2000).
It wasn’t just the crowd. Even Princess Rose took a step back, though it wasn’t because of shock, or fear. No, there was a great, beaming smile on her face as she beheld the mighty whiskered frog, admiring how the three much smaller angelic frogs floated calmly over its head like a living halo.
“Too bad you have that Dupe Frog to redirect my attacks… not!” Phil cheekily grinned, revealing a spell card in his hand. “I activate Smashing Ground, which destroys the monster you control with the highest defense points.”
“Thus activating the effect of my prince.” Rose countered. “He allows me to add one frog from my deck to my hand. That will be Flip Flop Frog!”
Phil smirked and moved into his battle phase. “Sure thing. Oh, and I hope that face down you’ve been saving for a while is good. Otherwise, this is the end of our fun little duel. D.3.S., please kindly destroy that Des Frog for me.”
“Not so fast!” Rose flung her hand out and flipped over that very same card Phil was talking about. “My trap card activates, as you have targeted my remaining prince for an attack! Froggy Forcefield!”
“Ah. Dollar store mirror force. Shoulda’ seen that coming. That is a good facedown indeed.” Phil shrugged and sent out a casual, two-fingered salute toward his fusion monster as it shattered into a million pieces. “See ya later buddy. We’ll get her next time. I guess since I haven’t summoned yet, in my second main phase I summon a Dupe Frog (100/2000) of my own in defense position. Turn end.”
Princess Rose smoothed out the edges of her blue dress, straightened her tiara, and plunged into the start of her own turn with a look of cool determination now that the field was even once again.
“May the light guide me.” She whispered quietly enough for Phil to only catch a little bit of her words, and drew a card. “I activate Swords of Revealing Light and place one monster in face down defense position. That is the end of my turn.”
Phil scowled as three swords made of glowing green light plunged into the ground to separate him from Rose. The most annoying part of it all was that he was pretty darn sure Rose’s face down monster was Flip Flop Frog, a monster with an annoying, yet slow effect that would allow Rose to bounce his monsters back to his hand when flipped face up. That ordinarily would not be a problem, since its stats were garbage, but Swords of Revealing Light would allow her to use the frog’s effect with ease.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Now that's dangerous," Bastion commented to Chazz. “Phil’s used that combo against me before. Unless you can use a card effect to destroy either the spell or the frog, there is little you can do about it. Flip Flop Frog will be able to return a number of Phil’s monsters back to his hand equal to or less than the number of face-up frogs Princess Rose has on the field. Furthermore, it has a secondary effect that lets her flip it back into face down defense position once per turn.”
“Hardly an issue for my Dark Armed Dragon.” Chazz snorted arrogantly. “I can use its effect to destroy that frog, or make sure to keep three dark monsters in my graveyard to re-summon it each turn until the duration of Swords of Revealing Light ends.”
Bastion nodded, taking Chazz’s point into consideration.
“Yes, of course. However, for the average deck, that isn’t something that a duelist can do, and Phil isn’t in a position where he can wait out the effect. Not with that 1900 attack point Des Frog still in play.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
While Bastion and Chazz were still in deep discussion, Phil shouted over to Chumley, digging into his pockets for a handful of coins to toss to the boy, who caught them deftly in one hand and tossed a steaming-hot grilled cheese sandwich back with his other hand. Phil eagerly munched on the delicious sandwich as he thought, completely ignoring Rose’s mutterings of ‘uncouth’ and ‘ungentlemanly’ while he considered the best way he could break out of her strategy.
The main issue was that he simply did not have any backrow removal or monster destruction currently in his hand that he could use. Des Croaking was sitting in his hand, but he didn’t have three Des Frogs on the field. Dupe Frog counted as one, but that was just it. Even if he summoned another one, that would only be two, and Flip Flop Frog would bounce them back to his hand as soon as Rose started her turn. He had enough life points to eat an attack from both her frogs, but if she had another way to bring back one of her Des Frogs he’d be in trouble.
"Fuck it," Phil announced to Princess Rose's aghast expression in response to his extremely rude language. "I don't have a way out of that Flip Flop play, so it's time to roll those dice. I activate Moray of Greed! I shuffle two water monsters from my hand into my deck, which are Dupe Frog and Sinister Serpent, in exchange for drawing three cards.”
Cards slid into his hand one by one, and Phil whooped loudly in joy as he got exactly what he needed.
“Yeah, the water homies are with me today! I activate Monster Reborn to special summon D.3.S. Frog from my graveyard! Then since I can’t attack, I place one card face down and end my turn!”
Rose looked at Phil doubtfully, as if wondering if her opponent had finally lost the precious few marbles he started with.
“I am afraid that I cannot see what you are so excited about… I flip summon Flip Flop Frog (500/200) and use its effect to send your D.3.S. Frog and your Dupe Frog back to your hand.”
The cheerful frog with grey speckles twisted into the air, swiveling its head nearly 360 degrees like an owl to stare at Phil’s monsters as they were returned to his extra deck and his hand respectively.
“Now! I am afraid that I must declare with this strike, only this lady is permitted to battle alongside her princes! Des Frog, attack Phil directly!”
“Ha!” Phil let out a full-bellied laugh and devoured the last bits of his grilled cheese sandwich with ravenous energy. “You may have your princes, but good staples are king! I activate Magic Cylinder!”
Phil: 2600 Rose: 0
The blast from Magic Cylinder was enough to force Princess Rose to a single knee, with one of her hands clutching at her head as her life points were reduced to zero. Phil stared quizzically at her, and then eventually moved forward with an air of mild concern. It actually looked like she wasn’t doing too good. Like they’d just participated in a shadow duel-lite, instead of a casual duel. But it couldn’t have been a shadow duel. He hadn’t felt a lick of pain from any of her attacks, nor had Rose reacted to any of his, other than to be pushed slightly back from the shockwaves that could occasionally be produced by monster holograms.
“Um. You alright?” Phil approached her and leaned down to try and get a look at her face, to see if she just had some sort of headache, or if it was worse. “I can call the nurse if you want.”
Princess Rose’s eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and a bead of sweat dripped from her brow. Then, just as Phil was about to stand up and shout for Jaden to run and grab Nurse Fontaine, her eyes opened and she straightened up.
"I apologize," Rose said between ragged gasps. "I had met with this seer and then… what… were we doing again?”
“Dueling. For fun.” Phil watched her carefully in case her loss against him caused the princess to finally snap.
“Oh.” Rose shook her head, as if to clear her mind, and focused her eyes on Phil. “My apologies. For some reason, our duel feels like a half-forgotten memory, as if a vast barrier of thick fog separates it from the rest of my mind. Never mind my ramblings.” She waved her hand to politely soothe Phil’s concerns. “Phil, I apologize for my words during the duel. I… don’t know what came over me, to speak in such an arrogant way. Your mastery over the frog archetype is formidable, and my princes say they are honored to fight alongside you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the nurse?”
Rose let out a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand while using her other hand to lift her dress in a loose curtsy toward Phil. It was a completely natural series of cute gestures that, if Phil had been back on Earth and they had been in the same age range, he might have been smitten right on the spot. However, in this instance, he went with strongly reminding himself that the mental age gap would be sketchy as fuck.
“Such a kind gentleman. No, I shall be fine. I have nothing but a slight headache, a matter that a quick rest in my dorm room should work wonders on. Though, after that, if you would be so kind as to further explain your last words in our duel, I would be indebted to you. Staples are king. Such an interesting phrase.”
With that said, Princess Rose curtsied one more time and turned away to gracefully walk across the quad toward the Obelisk Blue dorm in the distance, stopping only to fish a few coins out of her purse to purchase a sandwich from Chumley, who handed it over while blushing as red as a ripe apple.
“Well played.” Bastion smacked Phil on the back a few times in congratulations. “You really put the pressure on her with your fusion monster. I bet she tunnel-visioned on removing that problem instead of considering the odds of a Magic Cylinder popping up. It’s always something I have to think about when I duel you and my life points are low.”
However, Phil’s mind was still stuck thinking about what Rose had said after the duel.
“She mentioned a seer.”
“What do you mean?” Bastion pressed Phil for more details on his random comment. The fact that Phil had obviously felt the need to point that out spoke volumes of his concern.
Phil motioned toward the retreating back of Rose. “When I went over to check if she was alright, she said her mind was foggy, but she also specifically mentioned she met with a seer. Didn't you say that the Eisenstein dude who attacked you was also screaming about a seer afterward? I didn’t think much about it earlier, but I also remember Rose saying something about the ‘light’ once or twice during the duel. Then add that with what Zane said about that pro duelist he faced in Domino City mentioning the ‘light’.”
“Now that you speak of it…” Bastion rubbed his chin thought. “That can hardly be a coincidence. Not when similar words are used by this many opponents over such a short period of time. I do not yet know the significance of that ‘seer’ and the ‘light’, but it is a lead worth pursuing. Once Rose has had time to rest, it is imperative that we speak with her. Alexis!” Bastion waved his hand in the air to call her over.
“Yes?” She questioned once her notes were safely tucked away.
“You’re in the same dorm as Princess Rose, correct? I am sorry to ask this of you out of the blue, but please, we need to talk to her as soon as possible once she’s feeling better. Phil and I think she might have some slight involvement in whatever plot caused Eisenstein to draw me into a shadow duel over the summer.”
Alexis’s face darkened. “She lives a few rooms down from where I am. I’ll go check in on her right now. Maybe I can get her something to help with her headache and have a girl-to-girl talk to get some more information out of her. Bastion, Phil, do you think she… knows something? Or is just unlucky?”
Alexis’s last question was hesitant, as if she didn’t even want to think about a fellow student allying with some mysterious, yet malicious force. But she’d heard Bastion’s tale on the ferry, and she had fought Nightshroud herself. The idea that a student was involved was terrible, but it wasn’t something Alexis could rule out, no matter how horrible that idea made her gut feel. She could only hope that Princess Rose wasn’t caught up in anything too bad. For all that girl’s pageantry and strangeness, she was a kind person if one bothered to get to know her.
"I don't know," Phil replied, brows furrowed in concern. “She’s a fellow froggy duelist, but we can’t rule anything out at this point. Caution is better than getting bitten in the ass. I know you’re a strong duelist, Alexis, but you might want to take backup when you get Rose. Just in case, so one of you can run for help if needed. I’d say anyone who you can count on that is allowed in the girl’s dorm.”
“Agreed.” Alexis firmly nodded her head. “If something really is up, it’s our duty as students of the academy to fix it before anyone gets hurt. Don’t worry boys, you can count on me. Jasmine and Mindy will surely back me up once I fill them in.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
In an extravagant dorm room amid a large bed surrounded by purple drapes and frog plushies of all sorts and sizes, Princess Rose buried her head deep into her fluffy down pillow. The aspirin she took wasn’t helping in the slightest. It felt like a drumbeat, a pounding headache that hammered away in her head amidst the foggy memories. It felt like she’d spent part of the summer break and what little of the school year that had passed walking around in a muffled fog, with the only occasional bright spots being from her sweet princes.
Just what… was happening to her? Her perception of the present felt clearer than ever. Was the fog in the past now? Or would it come back? Part of her wondered if that strange seer she met over summer break could be involved. It felt like every memory that took place after that was part of the all-encroaching fog. Yet, he did seem like a nice man, and her mother always taught her to be a proper lady. A proper lady did not carelessly hand out blame.
Yet, it was also confusing that after losing to that boy, her thoughts began to clear up and her body switched out of the autopilot that it felt like it was in for so long. Was it a coincidence? Or did that boy with the wild grin and the ragged yellow jacket truly lift her out of the fog with a single duel?
“Phil, huh.” She muttered and buried her head deeper into her heavenly soft pillow, willing the headache medicine to work so she could actually think without pain. Rose would have to talk to him a bit more to be sure, but perhaps he could make a fine knight. He certainly was not on the level of her princes, but if the reason for clearing of her head was no coincidence, she would make a poor princess if a worthy reward was not given.
She rolled around, briefly abandoning the fluffy object in favor of looking toward the D.3.S. Frog plushy in the corner of her room, a plushy that was as large as a beanbag, and comfortable enough to be frequently used as one.
Hm. Yes, a knighthood would be perfect. Phil would likely be overcome with unimaginable joy upon hearing her gracious and just reward! Now if only her head would stop hurting…
A knock at her door sent what felt like shards of glass stabbing through fleshy bits in her skull, nearly forcing an undignified yelp through Princess Rose’s lips before it was smothered away.
“Princess? You in there?” A strange, yet somehow familiar man’s voice echoed out from the other side of the door. Rose squeezed her eyes tightly together, hands clutching her forehead as her headache intensified with every word the man on the other side of the door spoke. For the life of her, even though her parents taught her well to never forget a name, lest she be embarrassed at a social function, she couldn't remember who that man was. Only that he was familiar.
“I heard you lost. He’s disappointed in you.”
Her silence filled the air with a foreboding gloom. It would be rude to keep a visitor waiting… but her instincts screamed at her to not open the door.
The man fell silent, no longer pounding at the door. And then the doorknob rattled as he roughly tested it with a hand.